Pump



G. EVANS 1,929,813

PUMP

Filed March 6, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l llHHl W UM gnwntoz n S Galen Eva R NA/WQ, \j- WA m if:

G. EVANS Oct. 10, 1933.

PUMP

Filed March 6, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 g'wve'ntoz Galen Evans cilw k 52 Patented Oct. 10, "1933 A E OFFICE *Galen- Evans, Shelton, Nebr." I spawn March 6, 1931. iseriallmgs zum '2 Claims. (01. 103-102 invention relates to wells and particularly shown in Figure-3 or-it may be entirely inside to wells of the typewhich are-"sunk and operated the strainer as-shown iii-Figure 4. In case in a soil of water-bearing sand and gravel.- it is provided with an intake 16 for drawing the One or theobjects of the invention is the prowater from within the strainer 10. s

visionof a well structure which may be easily The pump itself is best shown in Figure 51 310 put into place.

sun]; in the soil stratum for which it" is designed; This figure shows the pump in five stages but Another object of the invention is to provide an it is obvious that any number of pump elements entire pump assembly whichwill constitute the may be employed depending on the conditions well casing after-the pump assembly has been surrounding the particular job. In every case,

r q however, the pump includes an intake 16 tow Another of my objects is the provision of a gether with one or more-pump bowls Hand-with pump assembly in'cludinga strainer at'the'lower a pump column 12. The impellers may all extremity with "rotary pump bowls ancl witha be equalin diameter or they may be made in pump column allformi'ng a unitary structure. diameters which successively decrease from the 515? One of the more important objects of my uppermost to the lowermost; The decreasewould 7'0 invention is theprovision of a pump assembly inbe very minute but it must be suilicient to permit eluding a strainer having a'greater-cross sectional the passage of each impeller'through the throat area than the'pump column. oi the bowl immediatelyabove; Below thelowe'r- Still another object of the invention is the most-bowl 1 1' the intake 16'i's provided with an 29 provision of a pump assembly having a strainer, annular shoulder for supporting the lower bearhe the whole structure'being so arranged that the in; support 17. This support is in the formofa strainer may be easily desanded. v e spider having an outer annular ring which seats 7 Having in view these objects and others which on the shoulder of the intake 16. 'The' will be pointedout in the following description, itself is shown at 18. The shaft'l l passes through I will now refer to the drawings,- in, which thisbearing 18' and it isprovided with a head 90 Figure 1 i's'a' viewin elevation of thepump 19 which seats against the lower edge of the assembly, the soil being sectioned and a portion bearing support 17. Since the impellers- 15 are of the pump column being broken away. 7 secured to-the-shaft 14, the position 01 the bear- Figure 2 is a view'similar-to Figure 1 but showing support 1"? on the shoulderwill insure that ing the arrangement of the pump'bowls at a they assume their proper positions in the assemas The entire pump assemblyincludes a strainer ticularly f r us i Soils vi v y l t ay greater distance above the upper surface of the bly of the pump, it-being only necessary to make strainer; I sure that the impellers are properly positioned Figure-3 is a view similar to Figure 1 but showon the shaft 14,- where they are locked in place ing thepump bowls arranged so that they willbe' by means of pins 20 or any other suit'ablefastenpartly within the strainer and partly above. ing devices such as keys. The shaft 14 is also Figure 4 is'another view similar to Figure 1 provided with an upper bearing 21 in a spider 22 but showing the arrangement with all of the. having a frusto-conical lower edge for seating on pump bowls within the strainer. r the shoulder 23 of the pump column 12.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view of the pump. The well and pump assembly is designed-parelement 10, one or more rotary pumps 11 and a and which consist almost entirely of water-bearpump column 12. A motor 13 of any suitable ing'sand and gravel of all degrees of fineness and type'drives the shaft 14 whichdiives the impellers coarseness. Such soils are very common near 15, the impellers being secured tothe shaft 14 numerous streams such asthe Plattean'd'they are .45 against rotary and sliding'movements. The divery difil'cult to, handle both in the sinking of a 1 ameters of the pump'elementsll and of the pump well and in the continued operation" of the well. column '12"are less than the diameter of the The ordinary boringv ing methods do not strainer element 10. f succeed because of the looseness or the sand and h pump'll i af-r t ry ump and it; ma gravel and his therefore necessary to" sink the consist of a single pump element or of twoor more Well y removing Sand ve om beelementsarranged in-stages. The pump may be neathand around the Well so as to permit the directly above 'the' strainer was shown in Figsinkin f in easin y gravity. After the well ure ,1' or it may be at any suitabledistance 'above has been sunk it is very apt to clog up slowly by the straineras shown in"F igurej2 of it" maybe the fine sand which lodges in the apertures of partly'inside and partly outside the strainer as the strainer of the well. It is well known that a filter of coarse gravel about the strainer will usually prevent the fine sand from stopping the flow in the ordinary domestic wellswhere the water is used to supply the kitchen and live stock. In high capacity wells, however, the demands on the water supply are so heavy that the fine sand is apt to be drawn through a portion of the gravel filter and to thus materially reduce the capacity of the well by filling the interstices in the gravel mass. 'The pump assembly as above described. has been designed particularly to solve these difliculties.

The well is assembled in the manner indicated in the drawings and it is sunk by removing the soil from underneath and surrounding the strain-- er, the pump column, bowls and strainer being,

first secured together. Any suitable method for sinking it may be employed such as that disclosedin my prior Patent Number 1,733,953, issued October 29, 1929. As the soil is removed from underneath the strainer, the weight of the well assembly carries it downward and the operation is then stopped when the strainer 10 has reached the desired depth. Ordinarily a retaining wall must first be constructed to prevent the loose soil from falling-into the cavity but this retaining wall may be of a temporary nature. As soon as the well has been sunk to the desired depth, the soil is allowed to fill in about the parts of the well as shown in Figure 1. The pump bowls l1 and the pump column 12 then becomethe entire well casing above the strainer 10. V

When the strainer 10 or the gravel filter about the strainer 10 becomes clogged by fine sand filling the interstices between the gravel particles as shown by the decreased capacity of the pump, the fine sand may be easily dislodged by means of my well and pump assembly. The pump column 12 maintains a considerable head of water while the pump is in operation. If suddenly released by the stopping of the motor, the water will suddenly drop back into the strainer with considerable force and it will pass out to loosen any fine sand particles which may have become lodged in the strainer or in the gravel filter. If thisprocess is repeated several times, the fine sand particles will either be drawn into the strainer 10 where they will pass out through-the pump or they will be forced back into the soil a sufiicient distance so that they will not interfere with the operation of the well. The process may also be carried out by employing a reservoir similar to that shown and described in my prior application, Serial Number 449,914, filed May 5, 1930. By repeatedly starting up and stopping the pump suddenly to fill up and to drain the reservoir, the strainer and the surrounding gravel may be thoroughly washed to remove all of the fine sand which normally hinders the free fiow of water into the well. It should be noted that the clogging usually takes place in the direction of the normal flow of water from the. soil into the well. The back Wash when the Water is flowing from the pump column or reservoir into and through the well is more apt to dislodge the particles of fine sand than is possible when the water is flowing toward the well from the soil.

It has heretofore been the practice of providing a well casing surrounding the bowls 11 and the column 12. In such installations the entire pump assembly must be removed whenever repairs become necessary. Such an assembly is much more costly of installation than the one which I have described. I have found, however, that the only parts of the pump installation which ordinarily be easily made since it is not necessary to separequire repair are the impellers. The pump bowls as a rule are of solid construction and they are not liable to develop any trouble during the operation of the pump aside from the effect of the slight wear at the shoulders adjacent the impellers. When the impellers require repair in my pump it is only necessary to first remove the motor 13 and to draw out the shaft 14 with the two bearing supports '17 and 22 and with all of the impellers 15., Since the throats in the pump bowls are either all of the same'size or of slightly increasing diameters from bottom to top, it is possible for all of the impellers to pass through all of the throats above. The repairs can then rate the bowls from each other. After the repairs are made the impeller assembly with the shaft 14 and withthe two bearing supports is again placed into the well until the two bearing supports rest on the shoulders provided for them. The removability of the shaft with the impeller assembly also makes it possible to gain access to the well for cleaning out the well. I

All wells regardless of their construction must get their water supply from the original soil formation. Unless this soil formation is improved, the well is short-lived as it very quickly becomes clogged up by the fine sand so that little water can enter the strainer. A prior method of irn proving this soil formation consists in surrounding the strainer with a thick, layer of coarse gravel. By the prior methods this is a very difficult process owing to the fact that the sand and gravel naturally and quickly fiow into any cavities in a soil of that kind. If the strainer is sunk into the sand and gravel soil it is a very difiicult matter to excavate a cavity at its sides and sur rounding the strainer and of sufficient thickness to fill in with an effective gravel deposit. My method, however, contemplates the desanding of the layer of sand and gravel surrounding the strainer, this desanding method being useful in sinking the well casing with the strainer and also at any time during the life of the well when the surrounding soil layer becomes too heavily impregnated with fine sand. The method'is an exceedingly simple one since it involves only the action of water which is applied by means of the equipment forming part of the Welland pump.

Having thus described my invention in such 125 full, clear, and exact terms that its construction and operation will be readily understood by others skilled in the art to which it pertains, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A combined well and pump consisting of a pump column and a plurality of pump bowls and a strainer secured together in vertical relation, each of said. pump bowls being in the form of a spheroidal shell having an inner annular shoulder and having an impeller positioned immediately above the level of said shoulder, the internal shoulders of said bowls having the same diameters and the diametersof said impellers being slightly less than the diameters of the bowl shoulders, and 140 a vertical shaft secured to all of said impellers and terminating above the upper extremity of said pump column, said pump column and said pump bowls and said strainer constituting the sole casing for said well. I

2. A combined well and pump including a pump column and a plurality of pump bowls and a strainer secured together in vertical relation and imbedded in the soil. and having said'straine'r surrounded by relatively coarse gravel, each of tical shaft secured to all of said impellers and terminating above the upper extremity of said pump column whereby said shaft and all of said impellers may be withdrawn as a unit from said. well.

' GALEN EVANS. 

